Concept mapping: A way of meaningful learning for medical students

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Manuscript writing and publication workshop: An invoking pilot study on enhancing cognitive research capabilities in health sciences institutes of Pakistan

Background: With an upsurge in research in developing countries, researchers from allied sciences need to augment their skills for disseminating research work worldwide. Training workshop is one of the quick interventions which can enhance writing skills and ease research publication.Objective: We designed this research to explore the perception of the faculty of different higher education institutes (HEIs) regarding manuscript writing and to assess the impact of these workshops in the improvement of cognitive capabilities of preliminary researchers in Pakistan.Methodology: We conducted workshops in HEIs of Sindh, Pakistan. Contents of the workshop covered algorithm of writing manuscript and related descriptions, choice of quality journals, correspondence with the editor, and dealing with rejection. The knowledge of the participants was assessed by 15 items pre and post evaluation tests. McNamar\u27s test assessed the significance of the change in knowledge. Kruskal Wallis test was performed to check the difference in the opinion of workshop quality among different institutes.Results: A significant improvement was observed in participants’ knowledge on the readers’ prospects (P=0.001), the algorithm of writing (P\u3c0.001), interpretations of results (P\u3c0.001), and selection quality journal for publication (P \u3c0.001). The agreement with the workshop\u27s quality based on need, knowledge, and content was above average.Conclusion: The participants’ response regarding the effectiveness of manuscript writing for publication workshop was overwhelmingly positive, and there was a significant impact on the knowledge of the participants. There is a need for research training that will help for better capacity building in different HEIs of Pakistan

Mini Clinical Evaluation Exercise (Mini-CEX): An overview

Over the last two decades, medical education has changed its role significantly to move from the traditional curriculum to the outcome based education. This is done after deciding the competencies to be achieved by the students more clearly1. The Institute for International Medical Education (IIME) has clearly focused the minimum essential core competencies that a medical graduate must possess including the clinical skills, communication skills, professional values, attitudes and behaviors1.&nbsp

Relationship of Age, BMI, Serum Calcium and Estradiol with BMD in Postmenopausal Osteoporotic Females

Introduction: The current study was designed to investigate the relationship of age, body mass index (BMI), serum calcium and estradiol with bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal females with and without osteoporosis. Subjects & Methods: One hundred females were included in this study and were divided into two groups (fifty in each group): postmenopausal females without osteoporosis (age: 54.36 ± 0.51 yrs) and postmenopausal females with osteoporosis (age: 59.92 ± 0.68 yrs). BMD assessment was done on calcaneous by peripheral ultrasound bone densitometry and T scores were calculated. Serum estradiol was measured by ELIZA and calcium levels were determined by using spectrophotometric kit. Results: BMD was significantly lower in postmenopausal osteoporotic females as compared to postmenopausal non-osteoporotic females which indicated increased bone loss in osteoporotic group. Serum calcium levels were significantly lower in postmenopausal females with osteoporosis (8.73 ± 0.08) as compared to postmenopausal females without osteoporosis (9.04 ± 0.09). BMD was correlated with body weight ( r= 0.50, p<0.05; r= 0.45, p<0.05) and BMI (r=0.61, p<0.01; r= 0.31, p<0.05) in both groups. Negative correlation of BMD was found with age (r= -0.67, p<0.01r= -0.57, p<0.05) and calcium (r= -0.44, p<0.05; r= -0.38, p<0.05) in postmenopausal females with and without osteoporosis respectively. Osteopenia was detected in postmenopausal females without osteoporosis. Conclusion: It is concluded that increasing age, low body weight, low BMI, and low BMD are few of the contributing factors to osteoporosi

COVID-19 pandemic awareness, attitudes, and practices among the Pakistani general public

Background: Outbreak of COVID-19, in many countries, has imposed a lockdown on their residents. The usefulness of extenuative actions is extremely reliant on society\u27s knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) toward pandemic control. Objective: This study aimed to explore the awareness, attitudes, and practices of the general Pakistani population to COVID-19. Methods: From June 13, 2020, until June 30, 2020, a cross-sectional online KAP survey was conducted among the Pakistani public. For data collection, a validated self-administered questionnaire was used. The survey instrument consisted of six demographic characteristics, 14 items on knowledge, four on attitudes, and six items on practices, modified from a previously published questionnaire on COVID-19. Results: The present study included 2,307 participants, 58.3% males and 41.7% of females. The majority (86.7%) sought information from social media (SM) and television, 95% had good practices, 89.9% had positive attitudes, and two-thirds (67.4%) of the respondents had adequate knowledge. The students and people from younger age groups had more positive attitudes compared with others. Highly educated w with other groups (p \u3c 0.001). In logistic regression analysis, the odds ratio indicated that the private job was negatively associated, and high monthly income was positively associated with adequate knowledge (OR = 0.595). Old age was the predictor of negative attitude, and high school degrees and master\u27s degrees were associated with good practice scores. Conclusion: The Pakistani general population has an overall positive attitude and proactive practices against COVID-19, but their knowledge is inadequate. The most important source of information was SM, followed by television. These are playing a crucial role in educating the Pakistani public

A Gender-based Comparison in Health Behaviors and State of Happiness among University Students

Objective: The presence of good healthy behaviors among university students is imperative for their future life. This study aimed to compare positive health behaviors and state of happiness between the two genders of Bahria University (BU), Karachi, Pakistan.Subjects and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at BU, Karachi, Pakistan. A total 813 students participated in this study. The healthquestionnaire, adapted from Health and Behavior Survey and the Subjective Happiness Scale, was used to assess self-reported happiness. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 22.Results: Overall self-reported health behaviors were found to be more prevalent in females as compared to males, but males reported a better self-reported general health (p = 0.012). Testicular and breast self-examination was not common in both genders. Smoking was found to be more common in males (p \u3c 0.01). Males exhibited habit of regular breakfast (p = 0.013) whereas females showed a tendency to avoid food rich in cholesterol and fat (p \u3c 0.01) and the practice of consuming food rich in fiber was found to be more prevalent among females (p \u3c 0.01) and they showed urge to lose weight (p \u3c 0.01). Sleep disturbance was found in both genders, more so in females (p = 0.012). Consciousness about dental hygiene was common in females (p \u3c 0.01). As compared to the females, more males strongly believe that they are very happy in life (p \u3c 0.01), and they make the most out of everything in life (p \u3c 0.01).Conclusion: There was a diverse response to positve health behaviors and state of hapiness in both genders